Determining to what extent you can provide care

The onset of the disease

Determining to what extent you can provide care

Whether you are alone as a carer or benefiting from the support of family and friends, it is important to be aware of your own limitations. Despite all the will in the world, there is a possibility that you will not be able to provide the kind of care that you would like to. There may be physical, practical or financial reasons which would prevent you from caring for the person with dementia on a 24-hour basis. Some of these obstacles may be surmountable and it may be possible to combine home care with outside assistance from various organisations. However, in the later stages of the disease there is a possibility that the person with dementia will need the kind of facilities and treatment that can only be provided by professional carers in a hospital or nursing home. The decision to let the person you are caring for go into a home or hospital is an extremely difficult one to make. However, if you can discuss this issue with the person with dementia and with the rest of the family at this stage, you may find it much easier when the time comes. The person with dementia could also help you with such a decision in the early stages by writing a “living will” in which they write down any wishes about future medical care.